They're a team that, much like the Pirates, is a whole lot better than anyone gave them a chance to be, that the talent on that squad says they can be. Buck Showalter has done a good job with them. But I still think they're a bat short. I definitely think they're a pitcher short.

Now if they go out and get a Zack Greinke like they tried to do, maybe they've got something there. And if you dangle Brian Matusz, a former top pick and a guy who a lot of people thought was going to be a star in this league, then there's a chance they could be there. But as the roster is currently constituted, unless Dan Duquette goes out and does something, I think Baltimore''s going to fade.

Compare them to the Tigers, who spent like a champ and expected to win like on. They might complain how so many of their young players who were primed to start peaking, like Brennan Boesch or Max Scherzer, haven't.

... Before a pitch was thrown this season, nothing was expected of the Orioles, while just about everything wwas expected of the Tigers. That's no longer true of either team. At this time of year outcomes can deliver outsized results -- and super-sized responses. The trade deadline is right around the corner, and execs and managers will be making decisions about what to do with what their teams have done so far.

With little more than 75 games left to go, both teams have something different to prove. The Orioles have to prove they aren't a fluke and have a shot down the stretch. The Tigers have to prove their disappointing first half was only a fluke and that an alwways-winnable division is still within reach.

** Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News has the Orioles at No. 12 in his weekly power rankings, and offers this succinct advice:

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